A particularly desirable aspect of furniture and cabinetry has been high-relief, decorative trim. Decorative elements on furniture and cabinetry have been traditionally applied as preformed molding incorporating the desired shape. For example, in the case of display shelves, decorative molding is often used on the edge of a wood shelf to hide the end and side grain. Solid wood molding is typically formed by multiple passes of routing and shaping tools, depending upon the complexity of the decorative design. Some molding, however, is manufactured by extruding a composite (essentially wood fiber and adhesive) material through a cross-sectional shaping nozzle and allowing the material to harden on a flat surface. The resulting molding is usually fastened to cabinetry by wire nails, brads and/or glue. Typically, the molding is mitered at the corners where the straight edges meet. However, this method of applying preformed molding is not useful for shelves, or other similar wood shapes that have other than straight edges. This is because the straight molding does not readily conform to shapes other than straight edges.
For regularly shaped objects, e.g., circular platters or disks, it is relatively easy to form a pattern on an edge of the platter. That is, the molding and shaping can take place at a constant distance from the centerpoint. In these cases, the workpiece may rotate with the applicator at a fixed distance, or vice versa. For irregularly shaped workpieces this approach does not work well because of the difficulty of maintaining a constant distance from the applicator to the workpiece edge. Alternatively, for shelves having other than straight edges, it is possible to have a skilled craftsman carve the relief from an oversize workpiece to form the desired pattern. However, this method is cost-prohibitive in terms of time, material and labor. Alternatively, for regularly shaped objects such as a picture frame, a custom mold may be made that fits around the object, such as a basic wooden picture frame. The composition is then injected into the mold, filling the voids and forming the desired shape. This system, however, is expensive in that a specific mold must be made for each different size frame. Therefore, for many commercial products, especially decorative display shelves, it would be highly desirable to directly form decorative molding on the edges of irregularly shaped wood products.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a machine that will apply and form decorative material on the edge of an irregularly shaped wood workpiece by extrusion of a composite material.